The Magic Mirror
My mistress was a queen.
She knew I could have seen such things;
The crops each season brings,
The ministers and kings who would
Sign treaties for her good;
The noble things she could have said
And done, with king abed,
Ageing, mad and half dead, but she
Betrayed him; misused me.
Handsome she was, I'd see, and tall;
Asked mirror on the wall,
Who was fairest in all the land.
I thought her fairest, and
I told her so; the grand queen knew
A spirit's words were true,
While little princess grew, until
Her looks were fit to kill.
I thought to lie, but still I told
The truth as queen grew old,
And Snow, whose heart of gold did shine…
The fault, I fear, was mine.
For spirits, truth is fine and right,
But my words brought her blight.
How dreadful her fate might have been.
© A.R. Collins, 2011
She knew I could have seen such things;
The crops each season brings,
The ministers and kings who would
Sign treaties for her good;
The noble things she could have said
And done, with king abed,
Ageing, mad and half dead, but she
Betrayed him; misused me.
Handsome she was, I'd see, and tall;
Asked mirror on the wall,
Who was fairest in all the land.
I thought her fairest, and
I told her so; the grand queen knew
A spirit's words were true,
While little princess grew, until
Her looks were fit to kill.
I thought to lie, but still I told
The truth as queen grew old,
And Snow, whose heart of gold did shine…
The fault, I fear, was mine.
For spirits, truth is fine and right,
But my words brought her blight.
How dreadful her fate might have been.
© A.R. Collins, 2011
